Elder Renlund was joined on stage at the 2016 RootsTech Family Discovery Day by his wife and daughter, and each had surprising things to share about temple work and the covenants made there.
“Yes, the temple ordinances are like nitroglycerin—pure and powerful,” said Sister Ashley Renlund. “But I can see how, when you add the temple to the work of studying and learning about your ancestors, the power is greater and takes our blessings to the next level.”
Sharing a story about his grandmother’s spiritual course through life, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the power of combining family history with the blessings of the temple. “It is not just randomly mixing two things together, but the one helps direct the other,” he said.
Elder Renlund was joined on stage during the opening session of the 2016 RootsTech Family Discovery Day by his wife, Sister Ruth Lybbert Renlund, and their daughter, Sister Ashley R. Renlund. Together the family looked through a photo album and invited the thousands in attendance to join them on a family history journey.
Elder Renlund said that in 1912 missionaries from Sweden went to Larsmo, a small island off the coast of Sweden, and taught his grandparents, Lena Sofia and Leander. His grandparents were baptized the next day, becoming members of the first branch of the Church in Finland. “At the time, there were only 756 missionaries in the whole world,” Elder Renlund said.
In 1917, Leander died of tuberculosis, when Sofia was pregnant with their tenth child.